Chapter 5:

Surprise Visit

Master Of Rejections But Beginner At Love


“...where am I?”

When Kazuma woke up, he could only see an unfamiliar white ceiling

“Ah, you are finally awake! How wonderful!” the person to his right said in joy.

“T-Tachibana- Ah, dammit!”

Token by surprise by the appearance of Emma, who sat beside him on a stool, he tried to lift his upper body up but his body was still in pain from the brawl.

“Be careful, Ichinose-san! Your body is still in a bad shape.” she advised him.

Kazuma looked at his surroundings and realized that he was in a bed of the infirmary at school. He still had bruises on his face and some parts of it were covered with band-aids. Both of his hands were wrapped up in bandages.

Then, he felt a gentle and fresh breeze from his left. Turning to his left he found that the window was open and when he looked out of it, he saw that the heavy rain finally stopped and that the dusk was already falling.

The sky was colored in a warm red and orange mixed with a faint violet. If you looked at the ground you could witness the colors of the sky being reflected by the multiple puddles created by the rain.

“Are you alright?” Emma asked.

“Ah, y-yeah. I'm fine. But what are you doing here this late at the infirmary?” he asked back.

“...” she looked away with a somewhat sad and regretful face.

“?” he tilted his head in confusion.

“I saw you and Ken-kun fighting each other...” she said.

“I see...”

Kazuma also looked away from her. He was scared too see her current expression. He thought that she would now start to hate him after witnessing him punching her fiance.

For him, it was a turbulent first love experience. Being rejected 14 times, finding out that she had a fiance and punching her fiance.

In spite of these negative aspects, there were, of course, nice memories. Wanting to see her, wanting to talk or hang out with her, having the urge to kiss her soft lips or to touch her smooth skin, having his heart race every time he interacted with her and desiring to stay by her side all the time. All these desires made his first love experience truly beautiful.

But in the end, he could only wear a self-deprecating grin on his face as he had to be ready to finally give up on his first love.

Or so he thought.

“I am deeply sorry for the trouble Ken-kun caused you!” she apologized while bowing her head.

“What?” Kazuma was irritated.

He expected to get slapped, berated and rejected for the 15th time by her. But she only apologized.

“Ehm, why are you apologizing?” he asked.

“Huh? Because it was his fault for starting this fight.” she genuinely answered.

“Wait, wait, wait a minute. Aren't you angry at me for hitting your fiance?” he asked bewildered.

“...well, I am not angry. I am just a little bit conflicted right now, I guess?” she said with a forced smile.

“Conflicted?”

“Hmm, how should I say? Of course, seeing your acquaintance getting hit is not nice but I guess, the outcome of this fight would have been worse if you had not defend yourself...” she explained.

“...”

As the mood became awkward between them, Kazuma struggled to come up with a topic to talk about.

“Could I ask you something?” he broke the silence with a question.

“Oh, yes, sure.”

“Do you love Kirisaki?”

Even though it may be inappropriate in this situation, he decided to push his luck again. It was a question that bugged him all the time already since he saw Ken for himself today.

“To be honest, initially I couldn't believe that he was your fiance. I mean, you are a kind, honest, modest and wonderful girl whereas he is a wicked, sly, arrogant and terrible guy! You two are basically like day and night!” Kazuma elaborated.

“...”

She hung her head a bit lower as she still wore her forced smile and thought about how to answer Kazuma.

While she was thinking, Kazuma, who nervously sat on his bed, gulped his saliva down and eagerly awaited her answer. Depending on her answer, he may have to give up on her, for sure.

Then, she finally spoke up.

“Currently, there is no one I am truly in love with. I'm sorry.” she replied with a stern expression.

After that, she got up from the stool and walked to the door.

“Do not worry about Ken-kun. I will talk to him and make sure that he will let you alone in the future. Goodbye.” she stated before she walked out of the infirmary and left Kazuma shocked alone.

He had mixed emotions. Should he be happy that she was not in love with Ken which gave Kazuma the hope to win her heart or should he be dejected because she was not in love with him and indirectly rejected him for the 15th time? He let out a forced laugh like a psychopath.

“Rejection number 15, huh?”

Nonetheless, he had not to give up on her for a while. On the contrary: Her statement ignited his flame once again. He was more determined than ever.

First of all, he had to get rid of Ken somehow. He was the biggest obstacle in his path to conquer Emma. Kazuma may had no sort of plan to do it yet but he was sure that there will be one as time went on.

Now, he only wanted to rest at home after a busy school day.

When he finally arrived at his home, it was already dark outside with only the street lights illuminating the dark streets in his neighborhood.

Kazuma sighed heavily as he was extremely tired. He even had to do without dinner due to being too exhausted to do anything. Therefore, he went straight up to bed after changing his clothes.

“What a day...” he muttered as he fell asleep.

After he was rejected for the 14th time yesterday, he found out that Emma had a fiance which resulted into throwing a tantrum in his room. In his rage, he put the blame all on Emma and wanted to seek clarification out of her.

Then today, he confronted Emma however, he was interrupted by Kirisaki Ken, Emma's fiance, who wanted to fight Kazuma after school. And despite planning to take all the hits without fighting back at first, Kazuma knocked out the three companions of Ken due to wanting to protect Yui from Ken. However, Kazuma lost in the end because he took to many heavy punches in the beginning and was finished off by Ken.

Following that, he woke up in the infirmary with Emma sitting next to him, who denied that she had any love interests as of now and rejected him for the 15th time before leaving him. In the end, she did not make a fool out of Kazuma by hiding the fact that she had a fiance. She did not even love Ken. Thus, Kazuma could let go of the feelings he harbored in the past night.

Now, after having conflicted feelings all the time, he could say that he was still in love with Tachibana Emma.

The next morning.

After the alarm clock went off, Kazuma, who slept like a baby, got up from his bed and stretched his whole body. He was full of energy. Leaving all the tensions from the past days behind, he could start his day with an optimistic smile once again.

As he hummed in his home, he prepared to go to school. He changed his clothes into his uniform, made and ate breakfast, brushed his teeth, combed his hair and packed his school bag. But before he left the house, he had to search for his phone.

He remembered roughly that when he came home yesterday night, he changed his clothes and then fell on his bed while throwing his handy somewhere in his room randomly.

“Ah, there it is!” he exclaimed in delight.

However, his delight and his optimistic countenance quickly turned into a terrified and scared one as he read a single notification on his phone.

[You missed 15 calls from Nagisa Yui.]

It was at this moment, he had to quickly made his decision which would decide his fate. Should he stay home and keep a distance to Yui or should he be brave and confront her?

Usually, people would decide for the latter option as the first one would make it only worse. But Kazuma was different. He was just too scared of Yui.

“Yeah, I should stay home tod-”

“Hey. Get your ass out of your house. Now.”

Not before finishing his phrase nor singing his prayers, the devil already awaited him right in front of his house and she was not sounding happy at all.

“What should I d-”

“I will count to three.” Yui stated with a fierce and scary voice.

“I'm coming!” Kazuma desperately shouted as he sprinted to the door.

Now, Kazuma had to face yet again the next calamity known as Yui's wrath.